Orlando Magic doomed by Utah Jazz's zone defense

November 10, 2010|By Zach McCann, Sentinel Staff Writer

The zone defense is a rarely used tactic in the NBA, and it's especially rare to see it against a sharp-shooting team like the Orlando Magic. But on Wednesday night, a second-half switch to a zone defensive scheme powered the Utah Jazz to a 104-90 win in Orlando.

The Jazz were out of ideas after trailing by as much as 18, and toward the end of the third quarter they mixed things up defensively by going away from man-to-man.

"We weren't able to match up with Dwight Howard inside," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "So we tried to zone him some. Fortunately they missed some shots."

The Jazz ended the third quarter on an 9-0 run, cutting a hefty Magic lead to nine. Utah remained in zone defense in the fourth quarter, and the results were negative for Orlando: Howard scored just one point and the Magic made 26.3 percent of their shots in the quarter.

The Jazz clicked on offense and outscored the Magic 39-20 in the period.

"They got into a little zone and we started rushing and pressing for shots, and that's when we started getting turnovers," Howard said. "We just have to play the game we've been playing to get wins. Inside, out."

Added Rashard Lewis, who finished with 16 points: "I thought the zone disrupted us a little bit and we know how to play against zone defense. But tonight we got a little disrupted by zone and our offense didn't flow as well."

Zone defense is something the Magic will rarely see this season ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â– it's ordinarily foolish to zone up against the best three-point shooting team in the league ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â– but it's a method that worked Wednesday night. It's something the other contending teams will have in their holster against Orlando, and if the Magic's three-pointers aren't falling and they're turning the ball over ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â– like tonight ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â– then it can be effective.

Zach McCann can be reached at zmccann@orlandosentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ZachMcCann.